1. Field of the Invention
The invention relates to a system for storing, encasing, and easily unpacking a quantity of loose, compressed material having the tendency to expand subsequent to compression.
2. Description of the Related Art
Loose, compressible materials, such as tobacco, peat moss, and asbestos, have historically been packed into large, bundled block form or "bales" to facilitate storage and manufacturing manipulation of the material. It is advantageous to store such bales in a stacked arrangement thereby increasing the efficiency of the storage area used for housing the bales prior to processing. To provide greater stacking stability, containers may be provided surrounding the bales. Preferably, such containers are manufactured to be lightweight and durable, and are designed for ease in application to and removal from the baled material.
Often, baled materials are stored in large bags which are sealed after the bale is placed therein. Generally, the baled material is compressed into a volume sufficient to allow the bag to be fitted over the material and the material thereafter inserted into the bag. Although such bags may be pre-formed to have a block-like shape, which allows the material to be packaged and stacked for storage purposes, the bagged bales tend to lose their squared shape, bulging under the weight of other bales stacked thereon, thereby creating an unstable stacking arrangement.
One solution to the problem of bulging is conventionally known as a "tersa" bale and comprises rigidly strapping pieces of wooden board on the top and bottom portions of a tobacco bale. The bale is then rotated 90 on its side such that the weight of stacked bales rests on the rigid wood frames. However, tersa bales also suffer from stacking instability problems. Further, increasing the stacking integrity of stored bales through assembly of tersa bales requires that the bales be strapped, a process generally designed to resist the tendency of the baled material to expand. Such strapping of the bales is usually an inefficient, time intensive process.
In addition, in high volume production processing of baled material, with conventional casing systems, it is generally necessary to manually remove the casing in order to proceed with material processing. Such manual processing requires significant human time, generally increasing the cost of the production process. Thus it is desirable to provide both a casing system which is easily removed from the baled material and one in which an automated process may be utilized to remove the case from the baled material.
Thus, an object of the invention is to provide an improved casing method and apparatus for storing compressed, expandable material.
A further object of the invention is to provide such an improved casing method and apparatus allowing the encased material to be easily and stably stacked for storing purposes.
It is further desireable to provide the casing materials in an automated process, thereby simplifying encasing and de-casing of bales of material.
It is a further object of the invention to provide an automated means of removing the packing material and casing from the stored material.